NLEX is not done boosting its bid for a maiden title.
After landing prolific guard Robert Bolick from NorthPort, the Road Warriors also bolstered their brain trust, linking up with champion coach Jong Uichico as the team’s lead deputy.
“NLEX proudly announces that nine-time PBA champion coach Jong Uichico will be joining the Road Warriors as the team’s first assistant coach effective immediately,” the ballclub said last Sunday night. “Uichico, who is tied with Chot Reyes and Leo Austria as the third winningest coach in PBA history, will bring with him incomparable experience.
“He will aid head coach Frankie Lim and lead a strong cast of assistant coaches to strengthen NLEX’s bid to win its first-ever franchise title.”
Uichico said he is grateful and excited in his return to the pro league–until Jojo Lastimosa guided TNT to the season-ending Governors’ Cup last April, Uichico was the last strategist to win a crown for the flagship squad of the MVP group in the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup.
“I’m thankful to the NLEX organization for trusting me with this role,” Uichico said.
“I’m looking forward to working with coach Frankie, the rest of the coaching staff, and the players and I’m excited to once again be a part of the PBA as a coach.”
Uichico, 61, is currently the head of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Coaches’ Academy and has been a long-time coach in the Gilas Pilipinas program.
He was an assistant to Reyes and Tim Cone when the Philippine five regained the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games gold medals in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Hangzhou, China, respectively this year.
